Oops, we’re all still pagans
You are a neuron in the mind of a giant.
Months ago, I wrote a Twitter thread about Milton’s Lucifer. It went a bit viral.
God, it made me feel weird and exposed. When I’m getting coffee, walking, talking to a friend… it’s out there. Roaming the earth, infecting people’s heads with my half-baked curiosity.
Although it’s an immaterial sort of thing, it felt very real. Realer than I would’ve thought before it happened (and even have trouble fully recalling now). It was as if a gorilla had moved into my apartment and was always hiding just out of sight — in my laundry room or behind rows of button-ups.
It bothered me so much, I stopped using Twitter.
But, when I saw virality happen to other people, it seemed unremarkable. Routine. Are they quietly being motivated by these same emotional forces? I wonder: Why are we desperately doing this virtual waltz? More accurately phrased, perhaps, what (or who) “possesses” us to play out these motions on social media?
If we’re marionettes, who’s pulling the strings? And are the puppet masters conscious (do they want things)? Do I want to be an actor in their drama?
